On the morning of 9 November, Jeff Bouton found and photographed a female
Amazon Kingfisher south of San Benito in Cameron County in the Lower Rio
Grande Valley of Texas.

The discovery was made during the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival, so
consequently hundreds of festival participants were able to gather
quickly to see the bird. The County Sheriff’s Deputies even came to help
direct traffic around the gathered birders, since the kingfisher was
found at a resaca (an oxbow) on the side of fairly busy Texas Rt.
100.

The Amazon Kingfisher south of San Benito seemed to run a circuit
across three accessible resacas on either side of the road, although on
some days the bird was difficult to find, or was apparently not present
at all. The kingfisher persisted in the area through the end of the
month.

CONSERVATION IN THE BALANCE IN THE FARM BILL

We last visited the Farm Bill in detail in July, when forces in Congress
had failed to agree on hammering out a comprehensive even though under
other circumstances, another Congress might have easily passed the
bill:
http://refugeassociation.org/?p=7787/#farm

House and Senate conferees began to meet on the last days of October
to craft a final version of a bill that would hopefully be acceptable to
both houses. Almost immediately, however, substantial disagreements
emerged. The news since has not been good.

The conservation elements of the extended 2008 Farm Bill ground to a halt
at the end of September, and now a pressing deadline of 1 January hangs
over the entire effort. As mentioned in the E-bulletin in July, if
Congress fails to meet the January deadline, the federal farm program
will revert to a permanent law passed in 1949. Yes, 1949. Not only will
this trigger many undesirable consequences (e.g., milk prices), but it
will mean reverting to a policy that did not include most of the creative
conservation programs that have become part of the Farm Bill
legacy.

Congress could avoid these consequences by passing a new Farm Bill, or,
once again, by extending the 2008 law, thereby kicking the can down the
road.

Regardless of the moves in the next month, so far, the conservation
elements in the Farm Bill - protecting habitat, birds, and other wildlife
- are not receiving the attention they deserve.

At stake are at least seven key conservation elements:
1) Re-linking basic
conservation compliance safeguards to crop insurance premium
assistance.
2) Opposing the
weakening of current soil and wetland protections.
3) Establishing a real
national Sodsaver program to protect our last remaining 10,000-year-old
native prairies.
4) A Conservation
Reserve Program (CRP) with a minimum 25 million-acre baseline.
5) Retaining what has
been the essence of the Wetland Reserve Program (WRP), regardless of a
potential new name.
6) The inclusion of a
healthy pollinator element for birds, bees, and bats.
7) Passing a minimum
five-year bill.

The Farm Bill is actually one of the largest sources of conservation
funding in the federal government, but sadly its role in sustaining
current conservation is now in question.

LOSING COASTAL WETLANDS

A report released in late November by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
(USFWS) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
shows that overall, the U.S. is losing 80,000 acres of coastal wetlands
each year to development, sea level rise, certain forestry practices, and
several other related causes. The report is titled, "Status and
Trends of Wetlands in the Coastal Watersheds of the Conterminous United
States 2004 to 2009."

Significant wetland losses were recorded for this period along the Gulf
Coast (257,150 acres), and they accounted for 71 percent of the total
estimated loss during the study period. The Atlantic Coast lost 111,960
acres and the Pacific Coast 5,220 acres. Even though the losses along the
Pacific Coast were small in comparison to the others, they represent an
important component of coastal wetlands in this region, which has a
predominantly high, rocky coastline. At least the watersheds of the Great
Lakes region experienced a net gain in wetland area of an estimated
13,610 acres.

Wetlands are vital to the survival of diverse wildlife species, including
such birds as waterfowl, gulls, terns, rails, long-legged waders, and
shorebirds. Wetlands also help sustain the country's multi-billion-dollar
coastal fisheries and outdoor recreation industries, improve water
quality, and protect coastal communities from the effects of severe
storms.

Laughing Gulls have bred along the Lower Delmarva Peninsula throughout
recorded history. Yet the population has collapsed in less than a decade.
Surveys conducted by the Center for Conservation Biology have shown that
the Laughing Gulls have declined from more than 25,000 to less than 4,400
breeding pairs between 2003 and 2013.

Laughing Gulls began to experience notable breeding problems in the early
2000s when significant tidal events repeatedly washed out eggs and nests.
Since the marsh islands used for nesting have little topographic relief,
nearly the entire region was impacted simultaneously, and the space
available for nesting has declined by more than 85%. Historic landmarks
such as Gull Marsh and Egg Island, named for their breeding birds, no
longer support them.

Over many decades, Laughing Gulls have been among the most numerous
seabirds nesting within the mid-Atlantic region. Yet, if the situation
along the Lower Delmarva is any indication, these birds could be in
serious trouble.

It is time to see if corresponding losses and habitat stress are leading
to similar results across the Northeast and Central Atlantic States, as
well as investigating other potential causes.

Other news from the Center for Conservation Biology is the newly launched
Osprey-Watch. This is a project created to engage the public in
collecting data on breeding Ospreys. The mission of Osprey-Watch is to
bring citizen scientists together in order to collect information on a
large enough spatial scale to be useful in addressing three of the most
pressing issues facing aquatic ecosystems: global climate change,
depletion of fish stocks, and environmental contaminants.

Information entered into this database will be immediately accessible to
users and will be summarized following each breeding season.

Under MAP-21, a federal transportation law, an important Recreational
Trails Program has been extended into FY2014. Each year, state governors
can opt-out of the Recreational Trails Program and divert these available
dollars to other transportation projects, like highways. Fortunately, 49
of state governors (all except Florida) have recently chosen to retain
the program for another year.

Features included in this program are the maintenance and restoration of
existing trails, development or rehabilitation of trailside and trailhead
facilities and linkages, acquisition of necessary easements, associated
administrative costs, and the construction of new trails and educational
programs. Here’s where birders, hikers, bikers, and other outdoor
recreationists can find common ground, since many of these trails provide
birding areas and crucial access for birders.

Sometimes birding access issues arise in the oddest ways, and the
Recreational Trails Program is a tool that should not be discounted. The
Recreational Trails Program is the most flexible federal funding source
available for the development and maintenance of high-quality trails,
having been used to create thousands of miles of trails and access from
former rail lines, utility corridors, and other spaces.

Whenever birding access problems arise, there are cases where official
Recreational Trails should be considered as part of the
solution.

WIND POWER: FIRST PROSECUTION FOR BIRD DEATHS

In late November, the U.S. Department of Justice announced a settlement
on the prosecution of Duke Energy’s wind developments in Wyoming. This
was in connection with the deaths of 14 Golden Eagles and 149 other
protected birds, including hawks, wrens, larks, blackbirds, and sparrows.
The settlement involved $1 million in fines and mitigation actions. This
is the first prosecution in the U.S. of a wind company in connection with
bird mortality pertaining to the Migratory Bird Treaty Act
(MBTA).

According to related court documents, Duke Energy’s Renewables failed to
make all reasonable efforts to build the projects in a way that would
avoid the risk of bird deaths due to collisions with turbine blades,
despite prior warnings about this issue from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service (USFWS).

In March of last year, the USFWS published voluntary operating and siting
guidelines for the wind industry, but there has yet to be established a
federal mandatory wind project permitting system to ensure that wind
developments be well sited, operated, and mitigated, with paid permits to
cover costs. In the absence of such mandatory standards, the prevention
of damaging wind development is difficult.

Identifying an Important Bird Area (IBA) is the first step in preserving
and protecting an area that may be particularly significant for birds.
But it is only the first step. Creating awareness and securing ongoing
protection – including appropriate access – must follow. Often this means
providing appropriate help from supporting citizens' or friends'
groups.

One such development with a current creative project is the Sax-Zim Bog
IBA, located northwest of Duluth, Minnesota. Although the location is
prime breeding habitat for northern bog specialists such as Great Gray
Owl, Black-backed Woodpecker, Boreal Chickadee, Yellow-bellied
Flycatcher, and Connecticut Warbler, the area is probably better known
for its wintering specialties, such as Great Gray Owl, Northern Hawk Owl,
White-winged Crossbill, Pine Grosbeak, Northern Shrike, Rough-legged
Hawk, Snow Bunting, and both redpoll species. Occasional Snowy Owls and
Boreal Owls are also much sought-after species in winter.

The point is that the location at this season is cold, very cold, in
winter, and shelter for birders can be hard to come by.

Enter the Friends of Sax-Zim Bog, who are raising funds to build a
Sax-Zim Bog Welcome Center. This will be a modest sod-roofed,
off-the-grid solar building constructed of local aspen, tamarack, and
white pine. This winter-use-only building will serve as a gateway to the
bog and a place for all to gather, share sightings, watch and photograph
birds at the many feeders (on all sides of the building), learn about the
bog’s biodiversity through the displays and literature, warm up, and,
yes, use an outhouse!

The Welcome Center is currently being finished on a one-acre leased piece
of property owned by the St. Louis County Land Department, located on the
appropriately-named Owl Avenue. Fund-raising is ongoing, but the building
is scheduled to be open very soon, for the 2013-2014 winter birding
season.

For additional information about IBA programs worldwide, including
those across the U.S., check the National Audubon Society's Important
Bird Area program web site at:
www.audubon.org/bird/iba/

"BANKING ON NATURE" HIGHLIGHTS REFUGE VALUES

We all are aware of the biological, aesthetic, and even spiritual value
of natural habitat, as exemplified through national and local parks,
wildlife refuges, and national and state forests. But sometimes, just
sometimes, these economic values need to be qualified.

The "Banking on Nature" report released in early November by
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) did just that for the National
Wildlife Refuge System. This 365-page report is the latest of a series of
such studies, the previous one having been released in 2006.

The current "Banking on Nature" report spanning 2006-2011,
shows that even during the greatest recession since the Great Depression,
the overall return on investment increased substantially for the Refuge
System, as well as every other major indicator. This includes the
following five highlights:

1 The combined economic contribution to communities
nationwide is almost five times the $492 million appropriated to the
Refuge System in FY 2011 (Or for every $1 appropriated by Congress to run
the National Wildlife Refuge System, nearly $5 is generated in local
economies.)
2 In FY 2011, 46.5 million people visited refuges.
Their spending generated $2.4 billion of sales in regional economies. As
this spending flowed through the economy, over 35,000 people were
employed and $792.7 million in employment income was generated.
3 About 72 percent of total expenditures are generated
by non-consumptive activities on refuges. Fishing accounted for 21
percent and hunting 7 percent.
4 Local residents accounted for 23 percent of
expenditures while visitors coming from outside the local area accounted
for 77 percent. Therefore, NWRs are seen widely as travel-worthy
destinations.
5 Refuge recreational spending generated about $342.9
million in tax revenue at the local, county, state and Federal
level.

"Banking on Nature" closely examines economic activity at 92
representative NWRs, and there is an appendix toward the end on the
"Economic Impacts of Birding" which highlights birding
visitation at popular refuges, birding expenditures at 10 key refuges,
and the national significance of birding visitation to refuges. The study
concludes that there were 11.9 million birding visits (not to be confused
with visitors) to refuges during 2001FY.

David Lindo delivers a charming and thoughtful book in THE URBAN BIRDER
(New Holland, 2013), mixing a personal biography of a birder situated in
an urban setting in the UK with observations about a birding obsession,
learning, growing up, and conservation. It wasn't necessarily easy in the
1970s when he started to pursue his interest as a youth. At a time when
birding was considered the pastime of rural-based, white, tweed-wearing,
walking-stick-brandishing, middle class folks, what, in his words, was
"a young, working class black kid doing getting involved?
"

His self-declared mission is to get urbanites to appreciate that there is
a great deal of natural life – especially birdlife – in even the most
concrete-laden of cities. And in this regard, he has made a name for
himself.

While urban birds and wildlife have always been treated as a novelty,
secondary to "natural" settings, Lindo takes on the cause of
speaking up for that lesser-appreciated interest, a cause he maintains is
crucial for the future.

Some of the book's references – cultural, geographical, and biological –
may need a bit of translation from Brit-speak to the American scene, but
it matters little. The basic message comes through.

The book is a quick and fun read. And, toward the end the reader
discovers how the author arrives at the moniker, "The Urban
Birder."

The international Spoon-billed Sandpiper Task Force has been set up
under the East Asian-Australasian Flyway Partnership (EAAFP) to implement
conservation measures to reverse the declines in the critically
endangered Spoon-billed Sandpiper. Fifteen experts from the effort
conducted a survey in mid-October along 46 miles of coastline between
Dongtai and Rudong, Jiangsu Province, China.

The group found 140 Spoon-billed Sandpipers as well as
"internationally important concentrations" of several other
waterbird species (including 1,200 Nordmann's Greenshanks).

This is the largest number of the rapidly-declining Spoon-billed
Sandpiper found anywhere in the world since 2008, when it was designated
as a globally critically endangered species (a species, "facing an
extremely high risk of extinction in the wild in the immediate
future," according to the IUCN).

The Spoon-billed Sandpiper is apparently dependent on the most
naturally-productive and healthy intertidal wetlands during migration,
especially in the Yellow Sea. The intertidal wetlands of Rudong, in
particular, are probably the most important remaining stopover site for
the Spoon-billed Sandpiper during its entire 5,000-mile migration
route.

Many of the most important intertidal wetlands along the Jiangsu coast
have been threatened by continuing reclamation for agricultural and
industrial development. However, local and provincial authorities now
recognize the international importance of the area and announced the
creation of one new protected area for Spoon-billed Sandpiper, together
with two more existing shellfish and fishery protected areas at a
workshop that immediately followed the survey.

Beyond that, NAS is producing a quarterly citizen science eNewsletter
to inform recipients of their citizen science efforts (e.g., CBC and
GBBC). You can get it delivered straight to your email inbox by entering
your email address just to the right of "Want to keep up with
Citizen Science?" here:
www.audubon.org/citizenscience

TIP OF THE MONTH: PREPARING FOR THE CBC SEASON

And while we're at it, our tip this month is to encourage you to
participate in this season's Christmas Bird Count. This count is the most
essential source for information available on North American winter bird
populations. This year's CBC – the 114th count - will take place between
December 14 and January 5.

It's always a good idea to prepare in advance for a CBC. And by
preparing, we don't just mean dressing appropriately and bringing a
thermos of brewed coffee – shade-grown, of course – but also checking out
your assigned route/area before the count day. This is especially
important if you haven't been there since last year, or possibly at all!
Things change: access, habitat, and seasonal birdlife.

Contact your circle leader and get count details, or to offer assistance
to help cover under-birded zones.

Reminder: there is no longer a $5 fee to participate in the CBC, although
help is still needed to keep the CBC alive and well.

FINALLY, THIS ALERT ON THE CBC IS THE PERFECT OPPORTUNITY… to wish you
the very BEST of the holiday season and a 2014 full of birds and
nature!

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